I was running at full speed now, Jencon right behind me and on my tails and Q2 not leaving my sight as we were approaching my late father's ship. I thought of the worst, literally the worst since anything could happen nowadays in the war. But of course, as soon as I turned the corner and I was seeing the view there, I sighed in almost a bit of irritation now since what I was seeing was making me roll my eyes.

Of course, this ship was in flames.

Not all of it, only patches here and there as it landed completely on the jungle floor and the hatch underneath opened. I skidded to a halt now, my hands on my hips as Jencon was watching his step and standing next to me as well.

"Damn…" he said in a daze now as Chewbacca stalked out of the ship with an irrupting look on his face. I almost growled now as I briskly walked over to where he was.

"Get some maintenance on this ship and get those fires out, now!" I commanded the maintenance workers behind me while I was walking over to my late father's friend. If there was going to be one person

"Chewie!" I called out, seeing him walk over to me and gesturing to the ship, growling in impatience and irritation, "Okay..okay! I get it, he made a dumb move."

He murmured some more, in which I had no choice but to smile in how he was being crabby about it.

"A few dumb moves….wait hold on…why is the Falcon on fire anyway?" I asked him, then hearing Poe walk down the ramp with heaviness in his boots.

"It's on fire! The whole thing's in fire…all of it... It's on fire." Poe said almost nonchalantly and stressful as he was walking off the ramp over to where Jencon and I were waiting for him. I locked eyes on him now, seeing him look at me and take in a steady breath before he shoved his hands in his pockets. It was like he knew he was caught, and he was waiting for me to yell at him. As much as I was glad to see Poe back in once piece again, I was still on edge for what I was seeing in front of me. Poe could see it, and I could feel that he was trying to tiptoe around this. Bless his heart.

"Poe…" I trailed off, Jencon walking over slowly to stand behind me now as I was looking all over the ship.

"Yeah, we hit a snag." He replied quickly. I've heard him use that term before, but not like this.

"What kind of snag, Dameron?" Jencon asked, having me look over at Poe directly in the eyes as Chewie answered that question with a huge explanation. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"You light speed skipped?" I asked, keeping my voice level and toned, I could see Jencon from the corner of my eye grimace a bit as Poe briefly closed his eyes for a split second.

"I had no choice, we were trying to get rid of the tie fighters on our tail and we almost—"

"You gonna tell Rey?" Jencon asked, Poe and I gave him a small look and Jencon slammed his mouth shut, "Sorry. Hey Chewie, let's get your supplies," Th saw the both of them walk away from the both of us now since they were feeling like we were about to have a small spit of a fight. It was now just the two of us on the end of the ramp. I cleared my throat now as we were both now alone, just the two fo us talking as the workers were already trying to get the situation out of the way and under control.

"Are you alright, at least?" I asked him, seeing him give me a small smile.

"I'm fine, Neyli. We're all okay and we found the spy," He replied, having me shift in my spot now as I gave him a concerned look.

"You sound a bit mad about it," I commented, seeing that it was irritated about it. I was about to ask him about it when he looked past me and I looked too, wondering what he found with his eyes. it was Rey, BB-8 right behind me and they too were coming to the clearing. She too was shocked from the state of the ship, almost as bad as I was, but in comparison to myself, Rey looked like she was about to chew out whoever did damage to the ship.

"Good grief," Peo said in a grumble now as I felt him sneak a kiss on my head and squeeze my hand before he walked past me, "I'll talk to you later about it, I just can't deal with this…"

"Poe?" I called out to him as he was walking away and going over to Rey and BB-8 with his hands on his hips.

"Hey, there's a spy?" Rey asked.

"Really could have used your help back there," For commented with a sarcastic look on his face.

"How'd it go?"

"Really bad actually. Really bad."

I heard another set of footsteps, having me look over to see Finn walking down the ramp now, slower and more casual. He had grown in his spot in the Resistance, becoming one of the main officers, and he was fit for the cause. Coming from being a Storm Trooper and then turning his back on all he knew with the First Order, I knew Finn was a good person with a good heart.

Along with something else within him.

"Hey, Neyli," he said to me as we were standing there together side by side.

"Finn, you okay?" I asked him now with a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, just peachy with Poe in one of his moods," Finn replied, having me snort now from his comment.

"Eh, you get used to it after a while," I commented, then gesturing to the ship, "I do appreciate him almost lighting my father's ship on fire completely."

"Sorry about that," Finn apologized.

"You don't need to apologize, I know you had nothing to do with it," I reassured him as he scratched the back of his neck," Poe told me that you guys found the spy?"

He paused, thinking of how to tell me this new information now as I could tell he too was stunned about the news. Before he could even answer, I saw him look over at Poe and Rey with a concerted look on his face. I looked too, already dreading that they were fighting each other.

"Great," I muttered, the both of us walking over to where the both of them are, already feeling and sensing the distress between the both of us and how they were speaking to each other. This was not the place for something like this.

"You know what you are: difficult. Really difficult, you're a difficult man." Rey voiced to him with a snark of a smile on her face as she stalked past him and over to where Finn and I were.

"And you're….oh you're…." Poe muttered, already beyond irritated as he then knelt to look at BB-8. I rolled my eyes as I passed the both of them and over to Poe, standing next to him and seeing him look over his droid, Rey and Finn were talking to each other in their friendly and gentle manner, in which I placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. He didn't coil back, he just kept still as I was trying to give him some sense of reassurance and peace within him since I could sense he was a bit out of it.

"Take a breath, Poe," I reminded him, seeing him breathe uneasily now through his nose and clench onto his droid. BB-8 beeped at him in agreement as Poe stood back up and looked over at me with a brief look of affection there, "What happened with the spy?"

"You're not gonna like it," Poe said to me in his softer tone, having me already feel on edge since he hasn't told me just yet. But then Chewbacca told Rey about the light speed skip, and once again the conversation was placed on pause.

"You light speed skipped?!"

"Yeah well, it got us back here,"

"Poe, the compressor's down!" Rey scolded him.

"Oh, I know! I was there!" Poe barked back at her.

"Every time," Finn grumbled next to me as they went on another argument amongst each other with Finn and me in the middle of it. I stayed still and both Poe and Rey were once again arguing amongst each other and. It felt like I was watching my own mother and father argue when I was little, it was both amusing and irritating at the same time. Who knew that two headstrong individuals could be able to talk an argument like this all the time, but of course I knew. My mom and dad made these two look tame.

I watched next to BB-8 from afar while Finn was trying to get them both to stop and calm down, in which I had to give Finn credit in trying to get his two friends back in the same headspace. It was the one thing I noticed in him, the calmness around him and surging through him in comparison to Poe's instinctual jumps and Rey's frustration. Finn was calm, Finn was peaceful, and I knew it then and there something else was there and maybe he didn't know about it just yet.

Poe shot up and walked away, the three of us trailing behind him. I could tell in how his shoulders were hunched and how his hands were making fists at his sides, he was losing his patience very fast.

"What happened?" Rey asked.

"Bad news, that's what happened."

"No spy?"

"No, spy."

"Did we make contact with the spy or not?"

"There's a mole in the First Order and they sent us a message," Finn answered, all fo us stopping our tracks and having me look at him in shock now from what he told us. A mole in the First Order? This was harder to digest and other news that we got in the past, and it didn't seem possible at all for something like this.

"You dropped a tree on him?" Poe asked, having me look at Finn for some clearance and ouse help to make the argument stop. I placed my hand in front of both of them to give some kind of sign to have them both stop.

"Guys, enough," I voiced, but their voices were already over me as I saw a hint of the pain of Rey's face

"You know I wanted to be out there!" Rey tried to argue, but Poe was fast to fire back

"But you're not! You're here and you're training, for what?" There was silence after Poe said that to her, having me seeing the small hint of pain there evident in her eyes now as he went on, "You're the best fighter we have. We need you, out there…not here."

"Poe," I said his name once, getting his attention away from her. He pushed it a bit too far when it came to blaming Rey for being here and her training, and it almost sounded like he was blaming me for keeping her here since I was helping Rey in the training. Poe took in a sharp breath, running his fingers in his hair now as he stared at me dead in the eyes.

"We need you out there too, in the Falcon where you rightfully belong," He replied, then walking away. I was silent, the three of us standing alone from that outburst. I knew he wasn't meaning it personally with me, he never did when we had our spats. But this one was new, since it was in front of our two closet friends, and it felt more like a dig than anything. I took in a small hallow breath now as Rey fluttered her eyes and looked over at me.

"Neyli…." She trailed off, having me roll my shoulders now and shake my head.

"I'm gonna look at the ship," I muttered, walking away from the both of them. I could hear Finn call out my name softly as I was walking away and getting my mind back in one piece. I knew we were all heated and we were all not in the right frame of mind in current days, but we were still friends amongst one another. If only we could go back to the way things were, now how they are now.

If only.

It was getting darker as the light was slowing coming to an end. I was watching the Millennium Falcon being repaired and the damages were brought back to a minimum while sitting on top of the main supply box, crossing my legs and practicing my breathing exercises. It was calmer now and the sounds of the night from within the jungle and the terrain around us. There was going to be a meeting held about the spy and the information that was found with the rest of the Resistance in attendance, which gave me time to be alone and collect my thought.

But I wasn't alone.

Two arms wrapped around me and I felt warmth all over. I knew that hold plenty of times in the past and I sighed softly as a chin was resting against my shoulder and a head against my own. I breathed in the small smell of sweat, grease, and a hint of the plants.

"I'm an idiot," Poe mumbled against my hold, having me reach over to tap his hands that were resting on my lower stomach, shaking my head carefully.

"You're not an idiot," I reminded him, still looking at the ship in front of us, "You're stubborn, and a fool at times, but not an idiot."

"That's supposed to be better?" Poe asked unconvinced. I grinned as I yanked him softly by his arm to walk around and stand in front of me. As he did, I could see the tiredness and the wear of the war on his face, not to mention how he looked like he hasn't had a steady though for days. He peered down at him as I laced our fingers together.

"Poe Dameron, you are not an idiot by no means," I reminded him, smiling at him as I tugged his hands, "Better now?"

"Not really, but it'll do," Poe replied as I tilted my head at him. I could tell he was thinking, so lost in his thoughts that it seemed like he was within his haze.

"What is it?" I asked him, seeing him think about it some more now as he walked over to sit next to me on the supply box. Our hands were still laced together while he pointed with his spare hand to the Falcon.

"What I said back there, about you belonging here on this ship, I did mean it," He explained, "I mean, it was your father's ship and now I think you should be the one flying it."

"I don't mind other's flying it when I know the ship's being used for the cause," I reminded Poe, "My dad was more of a stickler about it than I'll ever be, and I know it's in good hands," I then raised an eyebrow at him now, "You don't like how Rey's protective of the ship?"

"It's not that at all!" Poe rebuffed me, having me grin, "I just…I think it feels right if you're there. You were a pilot when I met you."

"And before that, a Jedi," I added, "As much as you think you needed Rey and me up there with you and Finn, I needed to help her. Poe…Rey's in a struggle with the Force. I can sense it and how she's being pulled all over…and I think I know who's doing it,"

Poe watched me in hesitance now as I was thinking about it to myself, not wanting to say his name out loud as he then said it first, "Your brother."

"I think so," I agreed, "I see him in my dreams and I know he's trying to get into Rey's head using the Dark Side. I never thought he would be so desperate to do so. But why her?" That was the true question, having me worry or Rey more than ever.

"What about you?" He asked, almost sounding a bit worried now as I was thinking about Rey. I locked eyes with him, seeing him look and search my eyes in hopes that he would see that I was okay. He knew enough that there was to know about The Force and how I was a Jedi in the past, and he knew who my brother and was and that whole background.

Poe was there with the discovery that not only that my brother was alive, but that he went to the Dark Side. That was my main fear: turning to the Dark Side as my brother did. Poe, like my mother, had enough confidence in me to know that I had more light within me than darkness.

"I know where I stand with The Force," I reassured him, squeezing our joined hands together, "That's why I needed to be there for Rey and to be here for the Resistance. I will do all I can to have us win the war," I saw Poe searching my eyes briefly before he leaned over to kiss me square on the lips. I sighed against him, feeling lighter than before and calmer. Poe had that affect one me, and he's always had it with me since the beginning when we first met years and years ago.

Once he pulled away from me, he gave me a small but soothing grin from ear to ear now, "I love you,"

"I love you too, Poe," I answered him back now as I could read the lines there on his face, the faint scars he got from the past and how he still looked as handsome as ever, "And I'll still marry you, even if you're stubborn." He eyed me with a smirk on his face, seeing that I was joking with him as he wrapped his spare arm around my neck pull my head against his shoulder and kiss my hair.

"And you're snarky, but I kind of like you," he joked back, having me chicle and wrap my spare hand around his waist. We were back our snarky selves again with each other, the banter we once had a long time ago. I only wanted this to stay for a while, so I soaked it in for now.

"Good to know," I mumbled against his shirt.

"We decoded the intel from the First Order spy, and it confirms the worst: Emperor Palpatine has returned," Poe explained to the group, having the whole feeling of dread come over us now as we were sinking in with the actual news from the so call spy. I was standing next to Chewbacca and Rey, seeing all of the faces of the Resistance dropping to fear and dread. But this seemed impossible, beyond impossible since he was defeat by my own Grandfather, the infamous Death Vader, and my Uncle Luke as well.

This can't be real.

"Wait, do we believe this?" Rose asked.

"It cannot be! The emperor's dead!" Aftab Ackbar said in protest and unbelief.

"Dark signs, cloning…secrets only the Sith knew." Beaumont Kin, a fellow soldier and fighter confirmed with the group.

"He's planning his revenge. His followers have been building something for years. The largest fleet the galaxy's ever known. He calls it the Final Order. In 16 hours, the attack on all free worlds begin. The Emperor and his fleet have been hiding in the unknown regions…on a world called Exegol." Poe explained with a grave look on his face. I wanted so badly to say something, but my tongue was beyond thick within my own mouth from all of this new important information. R2-D2 chirped rapidly now as then C-3PO translated for the group.

"Exegol does not appear on any star chart," C-3PO explained next to R2D2, "But legends describe it as the hidden world of the Sith."

I watched carefully as Rey walked away briskly as we were all still in our meeting, something was on her mind or just came suddenly, but she was determined as Poe was now looking at both myself and my mother.

"So Palpatine's been out there all this time, pulling the strings," He said in a worried tone to my mother.

"In the shadows, always, since the beginning." My mother said in agreement.

"If we want to stop him, we must find him," Maz explained, "We must find Exegol." I knew Maz was right, we all knew it for certain. If this Palpatine was really alive, if he did return, then we knew he was going to be the main threat in our fight for freedom in the war. He was beyond powerful, far too powerful for any one of us to take down on our own, but we did have to try.

"General," We all looked over to see that Rey came back to our circle, holding a thick worn book close to her chest. I could see something clicked in her head, a look of determination and sureness was evident now as she looked over at my mother.

"Can I talk to you?"